The Press., 1887-10-27

empty barrels and DOXeS were DEouSnI down and placed against the walls
 Gates felt like a new man. He dressed himself with care and began to move about in the city. Instead of stunning companionship he sought it. All the time he was on the alert. Was he suspectedl This was the one question that agitated his brain night and day.
 The disappearance of the two men created no excitement, except, perhaps, - in their own companies. Gates roamed the streets and made acquaintances among the Federal officers, but days and weeks rolled by and nothing occurred to alarm him.
 One day happy thought struck him. A neighbor desired to rent his house. Why not let him have it, and go north or west, or anywhere, for few years until this horror was forgottenY
 Fortunately it was easy to make safe and satisfactory arrangements Gates turned over the house to his tenant, and with the first quarters rent in his pocket set his face northward.
 III.
 The war had been over ten years when the wanderer returned. In his absence he had prospered, and his face wore the placid composure of a man who had no past to regret, and no secret to hide from his fellow men.
 Gates demanded the house, and his faithful tenant gave it up. The owner furnished it comfortably and moved in, and appeared to be so we'll pleased with his surroundings that his old neighbors were delighted
 "I have seen every nook and corner in the house except the cellar," remarked friend who was going over the house with the proprietor.
 ''The cellarr' exclaimed Gates. "Oh, yes, of course I'll show you that"
 He led the way, and his companion praised everything in high terms.
 ''The wall at this end," he said, ''is well built, but 1t is more massive than any other part of the work. It was built to last forever"
 "Just so," replied Gates, with a dry laugh. 'No, don't mean that exactly. The supply of material was limited and the mason used what he had. I am sat isf1ed with it.''
 But after the departure of his guest Gates scowled and shook his fist.
 "D-n him for 8 meddling fool?' he said. "What does he know about it? Suspicious, perhaps, and wants to pry around here. HumI I must be on my guard"
 The wretched man paced the floor.
 ''It is the mystery of it and not the deed," he continued, ''that weighs upon my mind. found a robber in my house and I slew him. There was no crime in that. But had to bury two men instead of one. Who was the second man? Who killed him? How came his body there? No living person but myself could have entered the cellar. Pshawl I am going over the same questions that have worried me for the last ten years. There is no explanation, absolutely none, and l am 8 fool to go on in this way.'
 The visit to the cellar seemed to uu- nerve Gates, and his health and spirits began to decline.
 A heavy rainstOrm set in, and Gates found himself alone one night. There was no danger of interruption in such weather, as nobody would care to pay a visit except in 0 case of life and death.
 ''I must see them" cried Gates, land I will"
 He went to the outhouse where the tools were stored, and then proceeded to the cellar.
 It was as hard to tear down the wall as it had been to build it, but after awhile the worker succeeded in removing a great mass of granite and mortar.
 Gates reached over back of the. wall and pulled out Q skeleton covered with tattered fragments of blue. He laid it on the floor.
 ''Is that the man killed or the other?'' he whispered.
 Another pull and the second skeleton rested by the side of the first.
 'I thought" gasped Gates, "that I felt something else over there"
 He stretched out both hands behind the wall and caught something. He dragged it out, and threw it on the floor.
 Then he held up the lamp and stared wildly before him.
 There were three skeletons on the floor!
 "One, two, three," said Gates.
 He rubbed his eyes and began the count again.
 "One, two, threer'
 He fell on his knees and felt of each skeleton.
 "One, two, threer' he shrieked.
 It was more than the suffering man could stand. He toppled over, limp and motionless, in dead faint.
 Early in the morning the few people in the streets were astonished to see Gates running aimlessly in every direction. His dress was disordered and his eyes glared like those of maniac.
 "One, two, threer' he shouted.
 Several attempts were made to- stop him, but he broke away and continued to run. Some one saw him draw long knife, and the crowd scattered, fearing that he was about to attack them.
 ''One, two, threep' screamed the mad man, plunging the knife into his breast three times.
 He fell on the sidewalk, rolled over once and was dead when the spectators reached the spot.
 Quite a sensation was caused by the dis covery of three skeletons in the cellar un- der the Gates house, but the mystery was never explained. It was generally sur missed that some horrible tragedy must have occurred there during the war, but its nature and the parties to it could not be ascertained. It was thought that Gates had unexpectedly come upon the skeletons, and the fright occasioned by the ghastly spectacle had turned him into Q raving madman.-Wallace P. Reed in Atlanta Constitution.